Spring-actuated fish-hook.



' No. 644,489. Patented Feb. 27, I900.

- D. W. ANDERSON.

SPRING ACTUAT ED FISH HOOK.

(Application filed. Apr. 17, 18%.

(No Model.)

m: cams FEYEFIS co. PHoTuurMa, WASHINGTON, o. c

U ITED STATES PATENT Orrrcn.

DAVID WILEY ANDERSON, OF RICHMOND, VIRGINIA.

SPRING-ACTUATE D FISH-HOOK.

SPEGIEFIGATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 644,489, datedFebruary 27, 1900. Application filed April 17, 1899- Serial No. 713,339.(No model.)

To all whom it may concern;

Be it known that I, DAVID WILEY ANDER- SON, a citizen of the UnitedStates, residing at Richmond, in the county of Henrico and State ofVirginia, have invented certain new and useful Improvements inSpring-Actuated Fish-Hooks, of which the following is a specification,reference being had therein to the accompanying drawings. I

, Figure 1 is a perspective of a form of fishhook embodying myimprovements. Fig. 2 is a view of another form having a modifiedbalancing device.

Referring to Fig. 1, A indicates the hook part as a whole; B, thehook-carrier; O, the trigger; D, the trigger-pulling device; E, thesinker; F, the sinker-carrier, and G the main cord by which the wholedevice is suspended. In this construction the hookA is formed with twolegs or bars a a, each terminating in a pointed hook proper, a a. At athere is a trigger attachment provided, which may be formed by bendingoutwardly-extending offsets in the metal of the legs a. The legs act areseparated or tend to be separated through the action of a spring, whichin this construction is provided by again bending the metal of each ofthe halves or side parts of the hook to form one or more coils, as at aand one or more offsets, as at a The eye, coil, or spring part at a canalso be utilized as a means of attaching the hook to its carrier B, asby being loosely engaged with an eye at b. To this eye also can beattached the carrier F of the sinker E. The main cord G is here shown asbeing connected to the carrier Bby means of a ring or eye at g. Thetrigger (indicated as a whole hy,C) is in the device illustrated in Fig.1 improved by bending a piece of wire in such a way as to have a longarm 0 and a short arm a, with outwardly-turned ends 0 forming fingersadapted to engage with the outer sides of the expanded offsets at (L Theattaching part of the trigger 0 extends backward and is looselyconnected to the rod or equivalent D, which at its lower end engageswith the trigger and at its upper end is connected to the hook-carrier Band the main cord G, preferably by means of the eye at g.

By forming the trigger with the long arm 0 on one side and the short arma on the other I insure that when the device is in position the planesof the hook parts proper, a, will be inclined to the horizontal, as willbe seen from the drawings, and the connections of the parts a, B, and bof the hook can turn freely to any position. The draft from thetriggerpulling part D, being applied nearer to one side of the offsets athan the other, pulls the parts aat an inclination, as above described.Not only are the hook-points held in this way, but the hook as a whole,it will be seen, is held away from the vertical position, the sinker atE tending to draw downward upon its inner end or heel end, while the rodor equivalent at D tends to draw upward at a point remote from the hingeparts a b, and in this respect the device differs from those which havethe hook arranged to be suspended directly downward from the heel to thepoints.

In Fig. 2 I have shown a hook which in most respects is similar to thatin Fig. 1, although differing therefrom in some details. Here the stempart of the trigger is at the center of the locking-arms, and thetilting of the hook to an inclined position is effected by means ofaweight 0 applied to one of the ofiset parts or of the hook-arms, and thepart of the hook between the eye a at the heel and the offset parts at aare not bent, as in Fig. 1, but are parallel, as shown at a I am awarethat it has been proposed to make spring-actuated hooks with weights forholding the hook-points in a plane other than the horizontal; but in theconstructions to which I refer the main cord corresponding to that atGherein was connected to the hook proper only by a loose connection, thelower end of the cord running through an eye on the hook and so arrangedthat it pulled positively upon the hook only after it had released thetrigger and drawn the trigger up against the said eye. In myconstruction the hook is carried by the main cord positively andindependently of the trigger-releasing device. Consequently thespringing of the hook is effected by the first impulse of the pull uponthe cord, and immediately thereafter the cord draws upon the hook byapositive pull.

It will be understood thatdevices embody ing more or less of theessential features of the invention can be used for the catching ofanimals, as well as fish.

\Vhat I claim is l. A device for catching fish, and similar purposes,having a horizontally or laterally extending hook with twooppositely-moving spring actuated hook points, a drawing meanspositively connected to the heel or inner part of the hook, means forholding said hook with one side higher than the other, whereby saidpoints may act upwardly and downwardly, a trigger for holding the partsof the hook in set position, and means for releasing the trigger,substantially as set forth.

2. A device for catching fish, and similar purposes, having ahorizontally or laterally arranged hook with two oppositely-movingspring-actuated points, a draft device positively connected to the heelor inner end of the hook, an eccentrically-arranged weight connected tothe hook for holding the said two hook-points in a plane other than thehorizontal, a sinkerfiexibly connected to the heel or inner part of thehook, a trigger for holding the hook-points in a set position and atrigger-releasing device supplemental to and connected to the draftdevice, substantially as set forth.

3. A mechanism for catching fish, and similar purposes, having ahorizontally or laterally arranged hook with two oppositely-movingspring-actuated points, a draft device a trigger for holding the saidpoints in a set position, a hook-carrier interposed between the heel orinner part of the hook and the draft device, and a trigger-releasingdevice interposed between the trigger and the draft device, and meansfor holding the points of the hook in a plane other than the horizontal,substantially as set forth.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

DAVl-D WILEY ANDERSON.

Witnesses:

II. L. DENOON, D. EARLE ALLEN.

